NAVSUP GLS commander speaks at street dedication ceremony for Chula Vista fallen veterans5/30/2017
by Paula Dunn
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (NNS) -- The commander of Naval Supply Systems Command Global Logistics Support (NAVSUP GLS) gave the keynote address at a ceremony in Chula Vista, California, in honor of seven local fallen veterans, May 26.
Rear. Adm. James McNeal joined Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas and more than 200 members of the community, including families of the honorees, as the city announced new streets to be named after local service members killed in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The roads were named for:
* Salem Bachar, a U.S. Marine Corps corporal who died at age 20 in a 2006 battle in Fallujah, Iraq;
* Michael Idanan, 21, a U.S. Army specialist killed in 2005 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee south of Mosul, Iraq;
* Kristofferson Lorenzo, a 33-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant who died in 2011 when a device exploded in Kunar province, Afghanistan;
* Michael Martinez, 24, a U.S. Army sergeant killed in combat in 2007 in Baghdad;
* Joshua Mattero, a 29-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant who died in 2007 when a device he was trying to defuse exploded northeast of Baghdad;
* Curtis Spivey, 25, a U.S. Army specialist who died in 2007 of wounds suffered in an explosion in Baghdad the previous year; and
* Charles Wyckoff Jr., 28, a sergeant with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, killed by gunfire while on patrol in Afghanistan.
"Today, we honor these seven men; local sons from our community who sacrificed their lives in service to our country," said McNeal. "May Americans for generations to come silently honor these patriots as they walk these streets."
As Rear Adm. McNeal told the story of each of the men, master of ceremonies and Chula Vista Deputy Mayor John McCann presented their family members with commemorative street signs.
The streets are in the Montecito Village development in Otay Ranch area of Chula Vista.
NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of approximately 6,300 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide, providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.